


Home

by carpalglitter



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Apparently those are a theme in my fics, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Reunions, Vaguely shippy if you squint, Wayfinder Trio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 01:36:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpalglitter/pseuds/carpalglitter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"When I really need you, I know you'll be there."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home

It was finally over.

Terra felt it all rush back to him. A mess of light, sound, smell, taste, and touch, and he was in his own body again. He gasped like he’d been underwater for too long. His chest heaved and his legs fumbled to remember what standing felt like. What anything at all felt like.

Everything was too bright. His breath was so loud he felt like the sound rumbled in the air around him. Terra clutched his face in his hands, waiting for his senses to calm. It was too much too soon.

Terra took a moment to collect himself, and looked back up to take stock of where he was. Everything in the immediate vicinity was white and completely blank. The only thing that seemed solid here was the ground beneath his feet. There was no noise either. Terra looked around himself, turning on still-unsteady feet, looking for an impurity somewhere in this empty place, but there was nothing. The thought came to him that maybe this is what he deserved.

From inside Xehanort, the most he ever got was flashes of sight or sound. Sometimes he saw people he knew. A boy with white hair who had grown tall since he last knew him, and King Mickey. Most of the time he didn’t recognize them. There were lots of people in dark hooded uniforms. More than once he saw a tall, white-haired boy he didn't know. He wasn't the one Terra shared his keyblade with, that much he knew. His face was too cruel, and his empty yellow eyes threatened to swallow the world.

Sometimes Xehanort would talk to Terra deep within his heart. He taunted Terra about how he would kill hope in the hearts of every being alive. How he would snuff out Light like a candle. What remained of Terra felt nothing but guilt. He knew what he had done, Xehanort told him. He knew that his recklessness had put millions in danger, and he was helpless to stop any of it. He could only hold out for hope that someone would be strong enough to fix his mistakes.

Terra looked at his hands and noticed they were more lined than he remembered. The skin felt rougher and had calluses in places that were smooth once. He raised a hand to his face, feeling the wrinkles that had begun to form on his forehead. Sorrow bloomed in his chest. It never occurred to him that he could still age while Xehanort possessed his body, and he felt cheated by the years he had lost.

Terra gritted his teeth, suddenly furious. At what he wasn't even sure.  Nothing about this was fair or easy. _I don't even know whose fault this is_ , he thought to himself. All the threads connecting Xehanort's betrayal and what had happened after were tangled beyond understanding.

For all he knew, it had been a hundred years since he lost his body. If he ever got out of this colorless limbo, maybe his friends wouldn't be there to meet him. Maybe no one would. This thought made his chest seize, and guilty panic hit him in the gut. Terra had betrayed not only his world, but many others. He wondered whether any would take him back. Whether he deserved to have a home outside this place.

There was an odd sound behind Terra that startled him back to the present. It sounded like air being sucked through a small opening, and he turned towards it.  He was blinded by an incredible yellowy light, and shielded his eyes with a hand.  Peering through his fingers, he was able to make out two figures stepping through the light as it began to fade.

A portal, he guessed.

Eyes still dazzled, it occurred to Terra that he should draw his keyblade. No matter what had happened or who was there with him, he sure as hell wasn’t getting jumped. He held his hand out, and the familiar weapon materialized in his grip. It felt a bit smaller than he remembered.

Terra tried holding it up in a defensive pose, but his arms shook. He was still weak and clumsy. If he had to fight, he had no idea how he could win.

The two people who had stepped through the portal muttered to themselves. They were a good distance away and hadn’t noticed Terra yet.

Terra broke the silence.

“Who are you?”

The pair started and looked over at him, weapons materializing in their hands. Terra tightened his grip on his keyblade, trying to size up the situation. One was tall, almost as tall as himself, with hair down past their shoulders. The other was shorter and kind of stocky.

There was a long pause.

“Terra?” said the stocky one, voice high with disbelief.

“Yeah. But who are you? Do you know what-” Terra stopped as it hit him, mouth dropping open a bit.

“TERRA?” Ven’s voice cried across the distance between them. “Aqua, come on! It’s Terra! I can’t believe it!”

They both ran at him, unable to contain their joy. Terra dismissed his keyblade. A strange mixture of shame, happiness, and fear flooded his entire body.

Ven got there first, looking Terra up and down, mouth agape.

Ven was a little taller now, but not by much. His face looked more mature, more angled, and stubble covered his jaw. His eyes were the same though, bright and, at the moment, full of tears. Ven grabbed Terra's hand, holding it over his heart

Aqua followed close behind Ven and stood in front of Terra. She breathing hard and laughing like he had never seen her laugh before. There was nothing but joy in the sound.

As if in contrast to Ven, Aqua had barely changed at all. Her hair was quite a bit longer and she looked weathered by battle, but otherwise the same. Aqua's face now was broken in a sad, joyous smile that radiated like the sun. She took Terra's other hand.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Ven tried choking back a sob. “When we didn’t see you after the battle was over, we...” Tears tracked down his face as his chest heaved in anguish. He held Terra’s hand closer.

Aqua was crying in earnest now, too.

“Everything’s fine now, Terra. We won, and everything is back to how it was. We can go home.”

Terra’s stomach dropped into his feet at those words. Guilt brewed in his chest, and he pulled away from the two of them, dropping his hands back to his sides.

"I shouldn't-" Terra paused, voice heavy with pain. "I can't go back with you."

Aqua and Ven looked at him, expressions full of concern that he didn't want to see.

Tears prickled at the corners of Terra’s eyes, but he held them back. He looked at the ground, furious with himself.

“I did this. I’m the reason any of this happened, and I couldn't even fix it myself.” His voice shook with every word, hands clenched at his sides in anger. “I don’t even know why I’m still here. I was Xehanort, and he was me. If anything, I deserve to be as dead as he is.”

"Terra."

Aqua's voice was soft, but the sound might as well have been a gunshot. Terra bit the inside of his cheek to choke down the sob clawing its way out, tasting blood.

"We came all this way to be with you."

Terra bit his cheek harder but was unable to stop the tears tracking down his face.

"We know what happened," Ven said, just as gently as Aqua. "And you are not the only one who messed up here. We all did."

"You were just the one Xehanort chose to be his vessel." Aqua said, putting a hand experimentally on Terra's arm. "You would have never chosen that. It's not your fault."

Those last four words hit Terra like a tidal wave. They echoed in his brain until they were a cacophony, and what resistance that was left in him broke.

He nearly buckled under the weight of the sorrow that had been hanging over him, and cried.

Sobs shook Terra's body and silent wails threatened to tear his throat apart. He felt like a child, helpless and wanting. Aqua and Ven bridged the distance between them, wrapping their arms around him. They whispered things through their own sorrow that he barely heard. Terra thought of Eraqus and the boy he passed the keyblade onto. He thought of the years that had been taken away from him. He thought of the battle that had raged outside, and who might have been lost to it.

He thought and thought until the thoughts stopped and the tears quieted.

After what may well have been a long time, Terra took a steady breath and opened his eyes. Aqua and Ven were still plastered against him, and he raised his arms to hug them both back. They both raised their heads from the wet patches they left on Terra's shirt, eyes puffy and red but smiling.

Terra looked at Ven.

"You got a ton of snot on my shirt, dude."

Aqua laughed so hard she hiccuped as Ven wiped his nose on his sleeve. Terra chuckled and held them closer.

"Ready to go home?" Said Aqua.

"Yeah. Very."

Terra bent his head down, gently resting his forehead against both of theirs.

"Thank you." He said, voice barely above a whisper.

Aqua broke the hug and stepped back.

"Any time." She smiled, and held her hand out to Terra.

Terra took it and offered his other hand to Ven, who latched on immediately.

The portal opened before them, less blinding this time. Terra exchanged a look with both his friends, and they smiled at him like nothing had ever happened. Like the last night they had spent under the same stars.

The three of them stepped through the portal and into the cheers and loving arms of everyone who was waiting for them.

And Terra was finally home.


End file.
